An age-old adage, we know extension and enrichment are both valuable, but which is best, and what are the most effective ways of doing both?
Firstly, what is extension for any student? It means going beyond the current specification and learning things that will either be taught in the future or already related to the content you’re studying now. A common example would be learning the basic area of triangles using the formulae A=b*h (the core knowledge) and then later looking at the general area of triangles using A= ½ absinC (extended knowledge).
On the other hand, enrichment involves improving your understanding of a given topic to a deeper extent by either using the same information in unseen contexts, or simply looking at it from alternative angles that aren’t necessarily core to passing an exam – and yet doing so deepens your understanding and appreciation of the subject matter.
Each pathway has its own benefits and drawbacks. My personal gripe is that in the UK especially, many schools are so scarce in resources they often only have the capacity to cover the minimum content required for a student to pass an exam, perhaps offering extension activities to limited students who outwardly struggle the least in grasping core content. Therefore, adding additional depth to their education lies with the parent or guardian, such as through extracurriculars.
With extension, too many students I work with are lacking the understanding of why they are using certain techniques and instead apply them to situations that simply look similar – and not necessarily by any fault of their own. An example would be the longer multistep problem. These questions usually require knowledge from different sections of a course and to join them together in a route which you get from point A to point B in ways that may not seem immediately obvious.
When students lack the knowledge of why they use specific techniques, they find it more difficult to approach these more difficult questions. When a student leans too heavily on a trial and error approach with different methods without being able to understand if the answer is correct or not, or simply rely on rote memorisation of formulae, we can understand how this can quickly become an issue.
With the above context, continually pursuing extension without the student first developing an underlying comprehension of the ‘why’ makes their educational journey far more difficult and is not sustainable in the long term.
Enrichment will pave over those gaps with focusing on why and how specific methods are used as well as potentially providing a more engaging experience with a given subject. How many times have you had a student where they mention they dislike the subject or find it boring? The number of students I’ve worked with who initially believed maths is only good for ‘counting’ is a non-trivial one.
For any subject, you can relate the topic of study at hand to everyday life and different practical problems. Allow the student to come to their own understanding of how and why things work through tailored exercises and dynamic teaching.
Within mathematics and statistics for example, a student could be encouraged to conduct their own survey, collecting data relevant to an area they have an interest in, and then present the results using statistical techniques so they understand the value of what they are doing and the insights it can provide. Things only seem banal when we aren’t presented with ways to apply our knowledge in ways that are practical and relevant, and this avenue is often not available within a school environment. This will also work on skills such as designing a survey and the types of questions that are effective or not, how data can be recorded, and how present it along with any conclusions reached, if any.
This is, of course, much harder to curate. The rewards are much greater with the broadness of understanding and improved connections between subjects.
Overall, the focus on exam related content does play into the fixation with extension. The stress on results and getting to the point where exam content can be practised rigorously to maximise results often overrides any opportunity to derive some joy and appreciation for subject matter, especially when being able to understand something quite complicated relatively quickly is often touted as critical to a student’s academic future.
At ZRT, we’ll be aiming to create resources for student enrichment and improve both the education of tutors and students with increasing the depth of their understanding of the subject matter.
So next time you’re helping your student, try to balance both enrichment and extension activities to improve their educational journey, and inject a sense of wonder back into the process of learning.
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